Page 1 of Brothers' Brat

CHAPTER 1

LEILA

My breath materializes in ragged puffs before me, the cold air biting at my bare legs below the hem of my pleated skirt. These stupid, tall, knee socks that are a staple at Hillcrest University do nothing to stave off the chill, their stark contrast against my pale skin almost mocking their uselessness. My fingers are numb as they clutch the fabric of my dark blazer, the white button-down shirt beneath offering little protection from the late December wind.

"I literally hate it here," I mutter to myself because I left my coat on the back of my desk chair in my dorm room trying to get away from my brothers. A high ponytail does little to tame my hair, strands whipping around my face as if they're on Hayden and Hudson's payroll.

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised. Everyone and everything bows at their feet just like they do every other male in the Hillcrest family. It doesn't help that they're also hotshots on the ice hockey team and have sculpted abdominal muscles that even the Greek gods would be jealous of. The two possess the trifecta to ruin any girl's life. Unfortunately for me, my brothers only want to ruin mine, specifically. They don't believe in the Hillcrest curse. They call it a silly legend someone made up a long time ago. I don't see how they don't believe in it, the proof is dangling from our family tree everywhere you look in recent years. They have all the symptoms, but I won't give in. I won't be kept by the two of them because some curse makes them want me. I want them to sincerely love me, and I know that would never be possible. The males in the family are subjected to an intense attraction to a female relative. If they don't act on it, the feelings only get stronger. If it goes on for too long, the men become so aggressive they can end up hurting or killing the object of their desire.

I haven't been able to get any answers yet, but I suspect that's what happened to my cousins, Landon and Sophia. He fought it so hard, never acting on his feelings for her, and then, about a week ago, they just disappeared without a trace. Hayden and Hudson told me Landon was taking Sophia to their father's cabin, where he lives with his daughter, Olivia. The way Hudson's lips pressed in a hard line when he told me not to ask any other questions told me all I needed to know.

Hayden and Hudson can break me in half if they want to, I'm not going to be trapped in a loveless relationship that is only driven by feelings for me that they don't want to have.

It's Christmas Eve and Hillcrest is eerily empty tonight, abandoned by students going home for the holidays, but I'm tethered here by a dread that coils in my stomach. I can't shake the sensation of being watched, the prickle at the back of my neck a constant reminder that Hayden and Hudson might emerge from the shadows at any moment.

They want me with them for Christmas at our family's cabin. We usually go two nights before Christmas and celebrate with just us and Dad, and then our extended family comes over for Christmas Eve, but I've decided I'm not going at all this year. Dad is on the twins’ side, telling me that I don't understand the curse and that I'm making it worse on them. He tells me that if I would just give in, show them some sort of affection, they'd stop bullying me and love me like I could never imagine. But it wouldn't be real, and I'd have to live with knowing that my feelings for them are.

Their possessiveness chokes me, and I hate that a twisted part of me thrives on it. I run away from it, but I need it. If only there were a hint of tenderness in their eyes, a softness to their grip that would let me know there was something behind their obsession other than the curse. Instead, their hands are always too rough, their stares too penetrating.

"Looking for us?" Hayden's voice slices through the darkness, laced with a cruel edge that lets me know what he plans when they catch me. They will, they always do. Something always stops them, though. I'm not delusional enough to think that I'd be able to get away from the two of them if they didn't want me to. They want to break me down, tire me out enough until I finally admit that I love them, that I want them as much as they think they want me.

I quicken my pace, my heart hammering against my ribcage. Hayden and Hudson also have one other predicament when it comes to their not-so-sweet little sister. They seem incapable of deciding who should lay claim on me first. In their warped brains, they think that whoever takes my virginity, I'll be bonded to more, and that isn't true. They both annoy me to an equal degree, and sex isn't going to change that. I can feel their anger tonight like it's a palpable, living thing, but it's the neediness that frightens me most—the way their eyes hunger for me, reflecting an obsession that is hard to not want to dive into headfirst.

"Aren't you getting cold?" It's Hudson's voice this time. That dry, annoyed tone he uses when he's tired of the chase.

I spin around, expecting to see them lurking in the gloom, but there's no one. It's a game to them, this chase, and I'm the unwilling participant caught in the middle. I don't know what my plan is because they're clearly not going to leave without me.

I can't help but scan the darkness again. The wet air promises snow, the first flakes likely to fall before I reach the pseudo-safety of my dorm. I wrap my arms tighter around myself, seeking a comfort that eludes me. With each step, the weight of Hayden and Hudson's grip on me seems to grow heavier, and I know it's only a matter of time before they pounce.

The wind howls as I stride across the desolate campus, my breath visible in the frigid air. The whisper of leaves against the pavement is like hushed secrets, and the skeletal branches above sway with a force that makes me feel like they might snap at any moment.

"Sweet little sister," Hayden's voice slices through the cold, sending shivers down my spine that have nothing to do with the weather. "She doesn't know how much we love her." His words are a cruel mockery, laced with the poison of deceit. He's speaking to his twin brother purely because he knows how much I hate when they talk about me to each other as if I can't hear them. As if I don't matter.

I clench my jaw because I hate that my body betrays me, responding to their proximity with an unwanted warmth, a flush of emotion that feels like a betrayal to everything I tell myself I feel about my brothers.

"The only thing the two of you love is hockey and your dicks," I yell at them, still unable to see where they're lurking, willing myself not to turn back. My heart aches with a wish—a hopeless, futile wish—that they were different. That they could be the brothers I once thought I knew before the curse twisted their affection into this dark, relentless pursuit. We were always so close, and those brothers, they could have truly loved me.

Even if Hayden was always kind of a pain in the ass.

My brothers' laughter follows me, a sound that should be joyous but instead fills the night with dread. The game they play is clear; I am the mouse to their twin cats, always to be chased, and most importantly, never free of them. In desperation, I veer off the path, darting toward the old cemetery on campus. A glance over my shoulder reveals only darkness—and not a peep out of either of them. They've vanished; another trick, another ploy to unsettle me.

Then I hear it: their heavy footsteps stomping behind me on the cobblestone path. Panic clutches at my throat, a relentless vise as I sprint across the frostbitten lawn, my breaths coming in ragged bursts. I don't feel any pain in my legs as they pump furiously beneath me, propelling me toward the gnarled iron gates of the graveyard. The sound of my own heartbeat thunders in my ears, drowning out everything else.

"Leila, stop!" Hayden's voice cuts through the cold air, laced with that familiar possessive edge that sets my nerves on fire. "You're going to get fucking hurt in there."

"Damn it. This isn't a game!" Hudson's deeper timbre joins his twin's, echoing their shared frustration. If I weren't in survival mode right now, I'd have to laugh at his choice of words. This, like everything else, is nothing but a game to the two of them.

I don't dare respond to Hudson, knowing words will only ensnare me further into their web. These brothers of mine are like gravity to me, honestly—relentless and inescapable. But if they pull me under tonight, it won't be without the fight of our lives. I need to know when they win, when they carry me to their Jeep, and we start our journey to the cabin, that I had no other choice. When I'm tied to them, knowing they don't really love me, I'll at least have the comfort that I tried my hardest to stop this from happening.

The cemetery seems like nothing but an expanse of darkness dotted with the gray tombstones glittering in the winter moonlight. It's a place of silence, where the whispers of the departed seem to linger on the wind. The perfect hideaway if I can lose my brothers for even just a few moments. I push harder, legs burning, chest heaving.

"Leila!" Hayden calls again, the sound of his plea sharpening the adrenaline that courses through me.

"Leave me alone!" I shout back without turning, my voice breaking with emotion that I try so hard not to show either of them. The need for escape claws at me, urging me forward.

I can't hear them anymore, but their presence feels like a shadow hanging over my shoulders. This is a dance the three of us have done too many times—me fleeing, them pursuing. A twisted game with rules I don't understand and definitely never agreed to.

I chance a glance over my shoulder, scanning the darkened path behind me. The shadows stretch long and empty; no sign of Hudson or Hayden. Relief floods me for a moment before the fear slams back into my chest. They could be anywhere, and probably closer than I think.

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